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Chinese leaders unbending on Tibet talks, Rudd says

(dpa) - Chinese leaders
are sticking to their position on Tibet despite calls from Western politicians
for them to allow media access and hold talks with the exiled Dalai Lama,
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Thursday.

The views on Tibet given by Premier Wen Jiabao and other
leaders were "consistent with the public position we've seen from the
Chinese government in recent times," Rudd told reporters shortly after
meeting Premier Wen Jiabao for two and a half hours.

Rudd said he urged Wen to hold a dialogue with the Dalai
Lama and had "considerable discussion" lasting some 30 minutes on the
recent unrest in China's Tibetan areas.

"I think we have a different view, that's quite
plain," he said of the discussion with Wen on Tibet.

"The dialogue (with the Dalai Lama) was of course
raised and the position I've put to the Chinese was entirely consistent with
what I've said publicly," he said.

"When it comes to the particular events of recent
times, the position of the Australian government is that there are significant
human rights problems in Tibet," Rudd said.

Australia wants to see a solution to the problems through
dialogue and "non-violent approaches," he said.

Rudd said Australia would continue working with the
international community to urge China to resolve the problems in Tibet but he
saw a "challenging period ahead" before the Beijing Olympics in
August.

"We have still a ways to go between now and August,
and I think all the people of goodwill will be engaging all relevant parties,
including the Chinese, to see if we can act constructively on this," he
said when asked about the push for China to talk to the Dalai Lama.

Rudd reiterated his opposition to a boycott of the Beijing
Olympics but said he still had to look at work commitments before deciding if
he would attend the games.

On Wednesday, US President George W Bush repeated his own
call for China to hold talks with the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism's highest leader, has been
the target of an intensified propaganda campaign by the Chinese government in
recent weeks.

China refuses to talk directly to him and continues to
accuse him of pursuing independence for Tibet, despite his regular statements
that he only wants maximum autonomy and religious freedom for Tibet within
China

The government partly blames the Dalai Lama for the
pro-independence protests and rioting that have erupted in dozens of Tibetan
areas over the past month, and for pro-Tibetan protests during international
legs of the Olympic torch relay.

Protests that began on March 10 in Lhasa, the capital of China's Tibet Autonomous Region, escalated into serious rioting on March
14.

The Chinese
government has said 19 people were killed in the violence in Lhasa but the
Tibetan government-in-exile said about 140 people were killed, most of them
Tibetans shot by Chinese police.